The Best Jobs in America in 2018—and Where to Find Them

The tech and healthcare industries are battling to supply the highest paying jobs in America this year, according to a recent report from Glassdoor, one the world's leading jobs and recruiting sites.

As shown by the report, the three highest paying job titles—physician, pharmacy manager and pharmacist—are all in healthcare. But the healthcare industry only snagged five of the top 25 spots. On the other hand, the tech industry claimed 13 of the 25 highest-paying jobs, two more spots than it did in 2017.

The 25 highest paying jobs in America in 2018

Job Title

Median Base Salary

Job Openings on Glassdoor

Physician

$195,842

3,038

Pharmacy Manager

$146,412

2,009

Pharmacist

$127,120

2,534

Enterprise Architect

$115,944

1,097

Corporate Counsel

$115,580

693

Software Development Manager

$108,879

1,064

Physician Assistant

$108,761

8,616

Software Engineering Manager

$107,479

1,105

Nurse Practitioner

$106,962

14,931

Software Architect

$105,329

1,130

Engineering Manager

$105,260

4,738

Applications Development Manager

$104,048

360

Plant Manager

$103,892

1,182

IT Program Manager

$102,969

218

Solutions Architect

$102,160

5,899

Financial Planning & Analysis Manager

$102,155

108

Data Architect

$101,900

1,472

Strategy Manager

$101,754

2,641

Systems Architect

$100,984

1,146

Scrum Master

$98, 239

1,876

Consulting Manager

$97,154

1,536

Attorney

$96,678

903

Cloud Engineer

$96, 449

1,077

Tax Manager

$96, 175

3,690

Data Scientist

$96,116

4,986

*Source: Glassdoor

While other tech jobs rank higher for base salary on that list, job seekers trying to land a role as a data scientist may have the most luck. As industries continue to rely on data to drive their businesses, demand for data scientists is increasing. Businesses need 151,717 more data scientists, nationally, according to a recent report conducted by career site LinkedIn. So while the shortage of people with software development skills is greater (212,838), the shortage of data scientists is growing more rapidly.

But despite this national shortage, there are several smaller cities with a slight surplus of data scientists:

City

Number of surplus data scientists

Cleveland-Akron, Ohio

1,206

Minneapolis, Minnesota

832

Cincinnati, Ohio

770

Greensboro-Winston Salem, North Carolina

601

Kansas City, Missouri

521

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

430

Memphis, Tennesee

331

Dayton, Ohio

323

Birmingham, Alabama

308

Louisville, Kentucky

247

These cities could capitalize on this untapped talent, or these job seekers could consider moving to a major city with more opportunities for their skillset.

The five cities with the greatest shortage of data scientists are New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle. These markets are also likely to pay above the median base salary.

What are the best job markets in the US?

Austin, Texas, topped the list as the hottest job market in America last month, according to LinkedIn's report. In July 2018, Austin posted a 14.3% increase in hiring year-over-year, compared to a 4.6% increase nationally.

Where are these new employees coming from? Nearby Houston supplied 10.5% of Austin's new professionals. But others made a longer trip: 7.6% of workers fled from long-standing tech haven, San Francisco, and 4.8% were New York City transplants.

This migration indicates the tech scene in Austin is maintaining its momentum, and is likely to provide a healthy job market for tech professionals in the years to come.

Denver, Colorado, and Nashville, Tennessee, gained the most new workers after Austin.

Daniel is a Staff Writer at ValuePenguin, covering insurance, retirement and other personal finance topics. He previously wrote about compliance and best practices for K-12 school districts at Frontline Education.

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